Tulane Basketball Falls to No. 7/8 Texas in Road Opener, 76-51

Austin, Texas - Junior Kevin Sims scored a team-high 11 points and classmate Asim McQueen grabbed a game- and career-high 11 rebounds, but the No. 7/8 ranked Texas Longhorns used an 18-4 run in the first half to take control of the game and hand Tulane a 76-51 loss in the road opener in front of 10,800 at the Erwin Center.

Texas (2-0) jumped on Tulane early and led 6-0 in the opening minutes. However, the Green Wave (1-1) responded with a 6-0 run of its own, which was sparked by a pair of Sims free throws and he tied the game with a lay-up at 16:23. The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes and TU trailed 13-10 following a finger roll lay-up from sophomore Johnny Mayhane.

However, the nationally-ranked Longhorns flexed their muscle and ran off an 18-4 run to take a commanding 31-14 advantage with 7:43 remaining in the first half. Tulane pulled to within 13 points on a trey by sophomore David Booker, but couldn't get any closer and trailed 42-25 at intermission.

The Green Wave was plagued by poor shooting (.321) and turnovers (12) in the opening period and was whistled for eight fouls, which resulted in a 10-of-15 effort from the foul line by the Longhorns.

Texas left no possibilities for a Tulane comeback by opening the second half with a 17-2 run to extend its lead to 59-27 with 15:41 remaining in the game. The Wave made a late run in the final 10 minutes, outscoring Texas, 16-7, with most of the players on the floor for the Wave coming off the bench.

"Texas is one of the top 10 teams in the country and they are very, very good," Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson said. They are very physical, they are quick and they are fast and are a team with some of the best basketball players in the country. Coach (Rick) Barnes has done a great job with this program. We were just outclassed tonight, outmatched at every position and we just couldn't get anything going and a lot of that was due to Texas being so good in the second game of the season."

Damion Jones led five Longhorn players into double figures with a game-best 16 points, followed by 15 points from A.J. Abrams, 12 points from Connor Atchley, 11 points from Gary Johnson and 10 points from Dexter Pittman.

Texas shot 48.2 percent from the field, while limiting the Green Wave to 31.2 percent and outrebounded TU, 46-35. However, Tulane did manage to pull down 15 offensive boards against a Texas team that features one of the tallest frontcourts in the nation this season.

Tulane returns to action this Saturday, Nov. 22 against Nicholls State at Fogelman Arena. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.